April 2021
The choice by Nebraska’s attorney general, along with our secretary of state, governor and Congressmen Adrian Smith and Jeff Fortenberry to sign onto a frivolous Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the presidential election has many of us debating the proper role of elected officials. Notably, Sen. Ben Sasse, Rep. Don Bacon and Mayor Jean Stothert, also all Republicans, did not join the lawsuit.
Known as the “principal agent problem,” should elected officials be guided by their conscience or should they vote their district’s preference? While they don’t call it politics for nothin’, there is little doubt that the line between leadership and partisan carnival barking has blurred.
Hello, darkness, my old friend (Simon & Garfunkel, Sounds of Silence).
Recently PBS aired the program “Holy Silence.” Prior to the start of World War II, noting that Germany had begun scapegoating Jews, Pope Pius XI asked American priest John Lafarge to write a papal encyclical, “The Unity of the Human Race” condemned racism and specifically anti-Semitism. Some argue the bold move by Pius XI in the face of rising anti-Semitism may have dampened Nazi support among German Catholics. Pius XI died the day before he was going to issue the encyclical as church doctrine.
Silence like a cancer grows…
The subsequent pope, Pius XII, never issued Lafarge’s document. Because of his silence, Pius XII has been labeled by some as “Hitler’s pope.” While this column is too short to fully engage the complexities surrounding the legacy of Pius XII, the recently opened Vatican archives suggest that history will continue to be critical of his strategic silence in the face of the Holocaust, the removal of Rome’s Jews to concentration camps and the death of millions.
No one dared disturb the sound of silence
Over the last four years Sen. Sasse has singularly offered outspoken leadership among Nebraska GOP officials.
On the one hand, scholars agree that seeking reelection is a rational behavior. Among the 435 congressional districts, only 10% can be flipped from one party to the other. Among the most flippable district is Nebraska’s 2nd. This forces all CD2 candidates to walk a tightwire between partisan appeasement in the primary and a moderate constituency in the general election.
I know Bacon, as well as Democrats Kara Eastman and Brad Ashford, and former Republican Rep. Lee Terry. All are good, integrous people. And thankfully, our representatives have been free of scandal and misdeeds.
And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made
As the last four years have demonstrated, whether through strategic silence or befuddled logic, too many have defined deviancy down by defiling norms in order to excuse the inexcusable. This lapse in integrity will be a looming specter for years to come, and will define the legacies of participants.
On the other hand, leadership and respect are earned by being more than average. Strategic silence may be rational; however, it is not exceptional.
The reality is that elected officials mirror their voting base. Politicians pursue a voting bloc, serving special interests and sharing the values of their loudest supporters. A statesperson creates their voting bloc by providing the leadership to pursue a vision of how things ought to be. By advocating for and modeling integrity, relentlessly supporting ideas and actions, and gathering among the like-minded, officials inspire us toward our better angels.
For example, support for DACA remains extraordinarily high, but legislative leadership has been ineffective.
Today, Bacon has become more outspoken, including criticism of the administration’s toxic post-election shenanigans. The Biden-Bacon voter spoke loudly in 2020, giving Bacon a wider base for leadership under the new administration.
Bacon’s participation in the congressional Problem Solvers Caucus, along with recent cross-aisle pushback against House and Senate leadership to reach the COVID bill, suggests compromise may be back in style.
So let us discourage the spoiled fruit of partisanship by nurturing the roots of leadership.
If voters want common sense leadership, they will need to find, and use, their voice. In 2020 groundwork was laid to move away from the radicalism of populism. But whether voters exercise their voice or chose strategic silence will determine the future of our community and our nation.
“The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, And whispered in the sounds of silence.”
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